How long can a bottle of whiskey last not sealed?

peachyprice

For a yummy dessert soak some gingernut biscuits in it (not so much that they go soggy though) and layer them in a glass with whipped cream.

Primrose

We have open bottles of various spirits In our drinks cabinet which have been the result of duty free purchases which have had one drink out of them and then not been drunk again for about 20 years! They're still perfectly ok. I'd move the bottle out of the sunshine and the heat of the kitchen though.

daveyjp

The number of half empty bottles of 1960s and 1970s whisky I have seen in bars in Scotland suggests it doesn't go off. There isn't a big demand for whisky costing £50+ a measure, so the bottles must have been open months if not years.

LameWolf

Another way I'd use the whisky would be in hot toddies, which is what I make when Mr LW and I have colds.:o Juice of a lemon, a spoonful of honey, a generous dash of whisky, hot water, then we retire to bed and drink it as hot as we can bear it. It might not actually cure the cold, but we find we don't suffer so much.:o

Primrose

You could put it to good use by putting summer fruits into a Kilner jar and just covering them with the whisky to make a Rumtoff. The fruits will be lovely at Christmas with cream or merangues as an alternative dessert to Christmas pudding.

Pee

I'd like to think a fortnight here...

Possibly there would be some deterioration over decades, but think this would be quite gradual.

I would certainly not worry about it for five years, and would happily try it for twenty years. Anything older, I would be a little more cautious about testing, but I do think I'm being overly cautious there.

You should of course taste it, or get someone else to, to confirm it's ok before putting it in the Christmas cake. (I'm not much into Christmas cake.)